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Makara
Sankranti is an important festival in all parts of Bengal. The Tusu Parab is
held in Birbhum on this occasion. Groups of young girls gather every evening
throughout the month of Pousa (December-January) and sing songs which have been
termed by the generic term Tusu. On the day of Makara Sankranti the groups go
out of the village to a nearby tank or river with the goddess Tusu symbolized in
small clay figurines or sometimes merely as cow-dung balls. After a sacred bath
they return to worship and make offerings of rice to the deity. Different groups
meet, sing songs near the river-bank or the pond and compete with each other.
The songs are accompanied by simple group movements: there is no other
accompaniment. The
men also have their particular songs and dances for the occasion and these are
known as the Bhaduriya Saila. The dance content is more predominant here: men
dance in circles clock-wise and anti-clockwise.
In
Chaitra, another type of composition known as the Jhumar is sung and danced.
Jhumar can be sung and danced by only one men and women or both depending
upon the particular occasion. The Jhumar at Chaitra is a typical men's dance
which is accompanied by drum and cymbals. At time of the transplanting of the
paddy only women sing and dance the Jhumar. This is then known as the Ashariya
Jhumar. Into the agricultural songs of transplanting paddy was impregnated the
theme of the love of Radha and Krishna and other stories of mystical union. The
basic tune of the Jhumars remained more or less the same. The development of the
Jhumar provides an interesting instance of an old form absorbing a new content.
The
agricultural dances have gradually given place to dances which are purely
devotional or religious in character. Practically each different sect has its
own music and dances. The worshippers of Shakti, dance in the Chandi mandir of
Siva, in the dance hall called Gambhira and those of Vishnu in the Natmandir.
All these pavilions are specially constructed for the dance in front of the
shrine. The Gambhira festival is held on this day. So also is the Kesvar where
Siva is worshipped. Gazan dance is performed by men dressed in saffron robes who
carry a Dhanuchi (incensed burners). This is exclusively performed by men; the
musical accompaniment is provided by decorated drums and brass gongs (Kanshi).
The
ballad singers, the boatmen, the fishermen and the professional musician
dancers, actors, acrobats and even jugglers have their distinctive songs and
dances. A characteristic feature of these is the musical accompaniment which
consists of a one stringed instrument called the ektara. The dance movements are by and large, restricted to short sequences which intersperse the singing.
The footwork is elementary, but the movement of the pelvic griddle is difficult
and characteristic. It is freely used by men singing the songs to indicate a
dramatic moment.
The Raibense dance
of Birbhium district is a traditional system
with a martial motif. The dancers rhythmically flourish staves as they execute
vigorous steps. These dances have their strict codes and disciplines unlike the
crude and vulgar exhibitionism of the Domnis whose vogue has dimnished greatly. The dances of the Raibenshes of Burdwan and Birbhum seem to be the last
surviving vestiges of war-like traditions. The technique of the dances is so
vigorous that there has been a new interest in teaching these dances to educated
boys and girls of urban centres specially by the Bratachari organisation. Dance
is a series of vigorous physical exercises, in which the erect
torso has an important part to play. The dancers begin in a single file and then
make a circle. Hops, jumps and circles are characteristic. Skills with the
shield and the spear and the trishul are common. A percussion instrument
accompanies the dance.
THEATRE
Jatra,
is the traditional theatre form of Bengal. The Jatra is performed by travelling
troupes under the management of a man called Adhikari. Although, originally the
Jatra had only the themes of Radha and Krishna, today Jatras are written
and performed by writers and
dramatists of rural and urban centres.
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